Utah prosecutors charged a California woman in connection with a fatal collision in which she was suspected of watching pornography on her phone minutes before she allegedly slammed into two other cars.
Court documents said Christine Chao, 44, was charged Tuesday with second-degree felony text messaging or email automobile homicide in connection with the deadly crash on Interstate 15 near Levan, Utah, in June.
The filing said construction had slowed traffic on I-15 when Ms. Chao crashed her SUV into one vehicle, which collided with another shortly afterward. All three cars were pushed off the road.
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The motorist who was first struck died from injuries.
Ms. Chao told responding officers she was “at fault” for the collision.
Investigators said her vehicle left no brake marks on the road, suggesting she did not slow down prior to rear-ending the victim at highway speeds.
Charging documents said a search of Ms. Chao’s phone discovered that she had pulled up a website featuring pornographic videos less than two minutes before the crash.
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